Routes offered by tour operators organising Kilimanjaro climbs range anywhere between 5 and more than 9 days. So how long does it take to really climb Kilimanjaro?

Of course we all want to keep is as short as possible, right? After all, who wants to spend more time than necessary without a shower and sleeping in a tent and not showering? And the longer, the more expensive. At least that was my initial thinking…

Kilimanjaro spoils you for choice. There are six common routes as well as few less popular ones, all leading to the summit. By stated order of popularity, the traditional routes include the Machame, Marangu, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai and Umbwe routes. Choice is good, but it also adds complexity. How to even start?

Alexandra is a passionate traveler and explorer. Born in Austria and currently living in Switzerland, Tanbai is her pseudonym as a hobby writer. It is Mandarin Chinese and derived from the combination of the first character for Tanzania (坦, pronounced tăn) as well as her Chinese surname (白, pronounced bái). Incidentally, the two characters in combination (坦白, pronounced tănbái) have the meaning of being frank and honest, perhaps to the degree of confessing. And that’s what Alexandra also hopes to reflect in her writing, an authentic account of her experience including innermost feelings and emotions, positive and negative, strong and vulnerable alike. Via her writing, she hopes to foster transparency and mutual understanding, and thereby provide her tiny little contribution to making this world a better place.

Kilimanjaro Uncovered started with a simple idea – to review a little known hiking route. It ended with a truly life-changing experience – written in real time while I was unconscious of being the subject of transformation.

For more detailed information and your further reading pleasure, I would highly recommend the following books. Not all of them are directly related to Kilimanjaro, but they all had an impact on my own Kilimanjaro Uncovered journey – by providing useful information, by inspiring me, by putting things into perspective, or simply by providing good entertainment.

About

Three years ago I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and was moved by the story of one of my porters. He had fallen sick while working and his employer – a local tour company – simply left him behind to die. That’s why I started this blog and built an Ethical Fair Travel company, FairVoyage.com, to end exploitation of human life in Kilimanjaro tours.

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425 pages of everything you need to know from when to go, how to get there, who to go with, how to stay safe, and what it takes to summit, this book is the best preparation you can possibly have for climbing Kilimanjaro.